Nearly 1 in 10 city school water sources have too much lead

Following the crisis in Flint, Mich., New Yorkers have been more concerned with lead in their drinking water. Worries about metal in city school sinks and fountains have been validated by statewide tests showing that most public schools have a lead-contaminated water source.

Overall, 82.7% of city schools have at least one water source where lead concentration exceeds 15 parts per billion, the Environmental Protection Agency's action level. Out of all of the tested water outlets, 8% were over the EPA's lead threshold. While most schools were found to have from 1% to 10% of sinks and fountains contaminated, many buildings had failure rates surpassing 25%.

The Department of Education has said that it will shut down the hazardous water outlets until they're replaced and pass a new round of testing.

One expert said the department is not alone in having buildings with lead-contaminated water. "The results are bad, but unfortunately this is completely normal in schools around the country," said Marc Edwards, a civil and environmental engineering professor at Virginia Tech University who helped expose Flint's lead catastrophe. "I suspect the average level of lead in schools nationally to be in this range. Many schools around the country still have their heads buried in the sand about this problem, so let's give New York City credit for addressing this issue seriously."

New York has cracked down on lead-poisoning threats in apartment buildings for nearly 30 years, contributing to a steep drop in the number of children diagnosed with elevated lead levels in their blood. In fiscal year 2003, there were 3,742 such cases. Last year there were just 784, representing a 79% drop.

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